Pantone

Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey.[1] The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietarycolor space used in a variety of industries, primarily printing, though sometimes in the manufacture of colored paint, fabric, and plastics.

In October 2007, X-Rite Inc., a supplier of color measurement instruments and software, purchased Pantone Inc. for $180 million.[2]

Contents

Overview1

Pantone Color Matching System2

Pantone Goe System3

Other products4

Color of the Year5

Intellectual property6

See also7

References8

External links9

Bibliography10

Overview

Pantone began as a commercial printing company in the 1950s. In 1956, they hired recent Hofstra University graduate Lawrence Herbert as a part-time employee. Herbert used his chemistry knowledge to systematize and simplify the company's stock of pigments and production of colored inks; by 1962, Herbert was running the ink and printing division at a profit, while the commercial-display division was $50,000 in debt; he subsequently purchased the company's technological assets from his employers and renamed them "Pantone".[3]

The company's primary products include the Pantone Guides, which consist of a large number of small (approximately 6×2 inches or 15×5 cm) thin cardboard sheets, printed on one side with a series of related color swatches and then bound into a small "fan deck". For instance, a particular "page" might contain a number of yellows of varying tints.

The idea behind the PMS is to allow designers to "color match" specific colors when a design enters production stage, regardless of the equipment used to produce the color. This system has been widely adopted by graphic designers and reproduction and printing houses. Pantone recommends that PMS Color Guides be purchased annually, as their inks become yellowish over time.[4] Color variance also occurs within editions based on the paper stock used (coated, matte or uncoated), while interedition color variance occurs when there are changes to the specific paper stock used.[5]

Pantone Color Matching System

The Pantone Color Matching System is largely a standardized color reproduction system. By standardizing the colors, different manufacturers in different locations can all refer to the Pantone system to make sure colors match without direct contact with one another.

One such use is standardizing colors in the CMYK process. The CMYK process is a method of printing color by using four inks—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. A majority of the world's printed material is produced using the CMYK process, and there is a special subset of Pantone colors that can be reproduced using CMYK. Those that are possible to simulate through the CMYK process are labeled as such within the company's guides.

However, most of the Pantone system's 1,114 spot colors cannot be simulated with CMYK but with 13 base pigments (14 including black) mixed in specified amounts.[6]

The Pantone system also allows for many special colors to be produced, such as metallics and fluorescents. While most of the Pantone system colors are beyond the printed CMYK gamut, it was only in 2001 that Pantone began providing translations of their existing system with screen-based colors. Screen-based colors use the RGB color model—red, green, blue—system to create various colors.[7]) The Goe system has RGB and LAB values with each color.[8]

Pantone colors are described by their allocated number (typically referred to as, for example, "PMS 130"). PMS colors are almost always used in branding and have even found their way into government legislation and military standards (to describe the colors of FIA have also chosen to refer to specific Pantone colors to use when producing flags. US states including Texas have set legislated PMS colors of their flags.[10] It has also been used in an art project by the Brazilian photographer Angelica Dass[11] which applies Pantone to the human skin color spectrum.[12][13]

Pantone Goe System

On September 5, 2007 Pantone introduced the Goe System.[14] Goe consists of over 2,000 new colors in a new matching and numbering system. In addition to the standard swatch books (now called the GoeGuide), the new system also includes adhesive-backed GoeSticks, interactive software, tools, and an online community where users are able to share color swatches and information.

The Goe system is streamlined to use fewer base colors (ten, plus clear coating for reflections) and accommodates many technical challenges in reproducing colors on a press.[6]

Other products

In mid-2006 Pantone, partnering with Vermont-based Fine Paints of Europe, introduced a new line of interior and exterior paints. The color palette uses Pantone's color research and trending and has more than 3,000 colors.

Color of the Year

Annually Pantone declares a particular color "Color of the Year". Twice a year the company hosts, in a European capital, a secret meeting of representatives from various nations' color standards groups. After two days of presentations and debate, they choose a color for the following year; for example, the color for summer 2013 was chosen in London in the spring of 2012.[15] The color purportedly connects with the zeitgeist; for example the press release declaring Honeysuckle the color of 2011 said "In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues."[16] The results of the meeting are published in Pantone View ($750), which fashion designers, florists, and many other consumer-oriented companies purchase to help guide their designs and planning for future products.[15]

2000
CeruleanPantone 15-4020

2001
Fuchsia RosePantone 17-2031

2002
True RedPantone 19-1664

2003
Aqua SkyPantone 14-4811

2004
TigerlilyPantone 17-1456

2005
Blue TurquoisePantone 15-5217

2006
Sand DollarPantone 13-1106

2007
Chili PepperPantone 19-1557

2008
Blue IrisPantone 18-3943

2009
MimosaPantone 14-0848

2010
TurquoisePantone 15-5519

2011
HoneysucklePantone 18-2120

2012
Tangerine TangoPantone 17-1463[17]

2013
EmeraldPantone 17-5641

2014
Radiant OrchidPantone 18-3224[18]

2015
MarsalaPantone 18-1438[19]

In 2012, the color of the year, Tangerine Tango, was used to create a makeup line, in partnership with Sephora.[20] The product line, named Sephora + Pantone Universe collection, features Tangerine Tango–embellished false lashes; nail lacquers, cream, glitters, and high-pigment lip glosses.[21]

The person behind Pantone's Color of the Year, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute Leatrice Eiseman, explains how 2014's Color of the year, Radiant Orchid, was chosen for a two-part interview held by custom printing company Signazon:

I look for ascending color trends, colors that are being used in broader ways and broader context than before… In this case, Radiant Orchid descends from the purple family, which is kind of a magical color that denotes creativity and innovation. Purple is just that kind of a complex, interesting, attracting kind of color… [The] back-story to purple is that it inspires confidence in your creativity, and we're living in a world where that kind of creative innovation is greatly admired. In the world of color, purple is an attention-getter, and it has a meaning. It speaks to people, and we felt that it was time for the purple family to be celebrated. That's why we chose the particular shade called Radiant Orchid.

Pantone has said that color "has always been an integral part of how a culture expresses the attitudes and emotions of the times." [23] Colors of the 1960s were chosen in conjunction with the rise of youth culture, counterculture and social revolution; including Hot Pink (17-1937), Vermillion Orange (16-1362), Grass Green (15-6437), Lemon Chrome (13-0859), Cyan Blue (16-4529) and Bright Violet (19-3438). Recession and growing environmental awareness in the 1970s brought "earthy colors" like Avocado (18-0430), Burnt Sienna (17-1544), Carafe (19-1116), Harvest Gold (16-0948), Rust (18-1248) and Corsair (19-4329). MTV, and similar cultural influences, and economic upturn are responsible for the more vibrant colors of the 1980s; Lavendula (15-3620), Radiant Orchid (18-3244, also color of the year in 2014), Mauve Orchid (16-2111), Ribbon Red (19-1663), Royal Blue (19-3955) and Rose Violet (17-2624). The 1990s, with rise of graffiti, grunge and zen, saw the colors Overcast (14-0105), Lead Gray (17-1118), Oasis (16-0540), Super Lemon (14-0754), Firecracker (16-1452) and Scuba Blue (16-4725). [24]

Intellectual property

Pantone asserts that their lists of color numbers and pigment values are the intellectual property of Pantone and free use of the list is not allowed.[25] This is frequently held as a reason Pantone colors cannot be supported in open-source software and are not often found in low-cost proprietary software.[26] It has been claimed that "it seems as if the company is being intentionally unclear" but it is acknowledged that "the simplest claim would be trademark misappropriation or dilution towards someone who produced a color palette marketed as compatible with Pantone's".[27] Pantone palettes supplied by printer manufacturers can be obtained freely, and, depending on supplier, do not come with usage restrictions beyond a sales ban on hard copies of the palette.

Pantone also produced Hexachrome, a patented six-color printing system.[28][29] In addition to custom CMYK inks, Hexachrome added orange and green inks to expand the color gamut, for better color reproduction. It was therefore also known as a CMYKOG process. Hexachrome was discontinued by Pantone in 2008 when Adobe Systems stopped supporting their HexWare plugin software.

See also

Natural Color System (NCS), Munsell color system, and other proprietary color spaces where most consumers use swatches to make color decisions; unlike Pantone, these systems are based on underlying color models rather than pigment mixtures.

References

^Horyn, Cathy. "Pantone's Color of the Year Is…", The New York Times, December 20, 2007. Accessed September 8, 2008. "Nonetheless, Pantone’s choice of blue iris, or No. 18-3943, got some news media attention last week, which seemed to be partly the objective of the company, which is based in Carlstadt, NJ."

^"Pantone Press Release, 6 May 2004". Archived from the original on 2006-01-03. Retrieved 2007-02-23. Colors in the new formula guide and chips books have changed due to a shift to coated paper that is brighter and whiter.

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